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High court grants transfers with opinions

The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer with opinion to two cases today and granted transfer to another, which it remanded to the Indiana Court of Appeals.

High court grants transfer in molestation case

The Indiana Supreme Court has granted transfer in a case to determine whether a defendant’s convictions were unfairly affected by taped interviews played at trial. In Brian Tyler v. State of Indiana, No. 69A04-0702-CR-120, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld Tyler’s convictions of vicarious sexual gratification and two counts of felony child molesting, as well as finding his sentence was appropriate. Tyler had exposed himself to five children in his care and touched one of the young girls. He also had the…

Chief justice to give annual address

Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard will give his annual State of the Judiciary address Wednesday.Next week will mark the 21st time Chief Justice Shepard will give the address since assuming the court’s top position in 1987, two years after joining the appellate court. The hour-long annual address starts at 1:30 p.m. in the chambers of the Indiana House of Representatives in Indianapolis.His address typically includes a discussion of the state courts’ ongoing projects, accomplishments in the past year, and future…

Judge pleads guilty, receives suspension

Allen Circuit Judge Thomas J. Felts pleaded guilty today in Marion Superior Court to operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a misdemeanor. Marion Superior Judge William Nelson sentenced the judge to one year probation and suspended his driver’s license for 90 days, starting tomorrow. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office asked the judge to immediately suspend Judge Felt’s driver’s license, but Judge Nelson allowed for a one-day delay so that Judge Felts could drive home to Allen County, said Marion County Prosecutor’s…

Delayed COA appeal declared moot

The Indiana Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal by an election board and political candidates who challenged a candidate’s ability to run as an Independent because the candidate had already lost in the election when the appeal finally made it before the appellate court. The appeal, Lake County Board of Elections and Registrations, Myrna Maldonado, Richard Medina, and Juda Parks v. Anthony Copeland, No. 45A04-0710-CV-560, came before the Court of Appeals after the November 2007 election because of an error in the…

Court: CHINS records aren’t available to media

The circumstances that led to two siblings being deemed as children in need of services and the media attention their family received don't justify the trial court allowing the media access to the children's CHINS records, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.

Court examines master commissioner statutes

Footnotes in at least two recent Indiana Court of Appeals decisions show how the appellate court sees state statutes governing the authority master commissioners have in carrying out trial court business.In a published opinion issued today in Denia Baniaga v. State of Indiana, No. 49A04-0801-CR-21, the three-judge panel led by Chief Judge John G. Baker attached a footnote to the first page of the case from Marion Superior Judge Steven Eichholtz and Master Commissioner Patrick Murphy. The master commissioner heard the…

Defendants can waive appeal right in bargains

Criminal defendants can waive their right to appeal a trial court’s sentencing decision as part of a plea agreement, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled today.In a unanimous ruling in Timothy Ray Creech v. State of Indiana, No. 35S02-0709-CR-376, justices affirmed a decision from Huntington Circuit Judge Thomas M. Hakes.The case stems from a six-year executed sentence on a child-molesting charge in 2006; Creech had entered a plea agreement that left the sentence up to the trial judge but capped the executed portion…

Court: No sudden heat, no voluntary manslaughter

The Indiana Supreme Court reversed a defendant’s conviction of voluntary manslaughter after ruling the trial court erred by instructing the jury about voluntary manslaughter in the absence of evidence of sudden heat. In Andrew Lee Watts v. State of Indiana, No. 45S03-0611-CR-452, Watts appealed his conviction of voluntary manslaughter following a jury trial. The state charged Watts with murder following a tavern shooting, but also had the jury instructed on the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter. At trial, Watts requested jury instructions…

ISBA members approve judges up for retention

The five Indiana judges up for retention this November have received overwhelming support from Indiana State Bar Association members. The ISBA poll shows no judge or justice received less than 83 percent of "yes" votes for retention.

Indiana first to sign Great Lakes Compact

Indiana became the first state to adopt the updated Great Lakes Compact Thursday. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed SEA 45, which implements added protections on Great Lakes water through the multi-state agreement. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact was first developed more than five years ago and ensures that authority over water uses from the Great Lakes stays in the region. It also provides that economic development will be fostered through sustainable use and management of the waters and that…

Court: Broker must pay back commission

A broker who breaches his fiduciary duty to disclose material information to a client loses the right to collect a commission for his services, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled today. The high court unanimously reversed a trial court decision finding that although a broker breached his fiduciary duty to his client, his commission shouldn’t be revoked and be repaid to his client.In Tonda Beth Nichols v. Rex David Minnick and R. David Minnick Inc. d/b/a Commercial Properties, No. 53S01-0711-CV-515, Nichols sued Minnick…

Supreme Court honors longtime employees

The Indiana Supreme Court this afternoon honored 15 employees who have spent 10 to 30 years working in the judicial branch. It's a tradition for the high court to honor the long-serving employees of the courts with a plaque commemorating their loyalty.

Prior conviction counts in sentencing decision

A prior drunk-driving conviction – reached pursuant to a state statute now repealed and recodified in a newer law – can be used in determining a person's sentence, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.

Notable attorney to speak at IU-Bloomington

A prominent attorney, civil rights leader, and political figure will deliver the 2008 Neal-Marshall Lecture in Public Policy March 27 at Indiana University in Bloomington.Vernon E. Jordan Jr. will share his thoughts about the current presidential campaign and other topics in his lecture, “America – Crossing Boundaries of Possibility.” Jordan was executive director of the United Negro College Fund Inc., president and CEO of the National Urban League Inc., served as an advisor to President Bill Clinton, and has practiced law in Arkansas…

SCOTUS: Lethal injection allowed

While lethal injection itself isn’t unconstitutional, a ruling today from the U.S. Supreme Court has left open the door for more legal challenges to how states administer the deadly drugs. But on a broader level, the one justice who supported the 1976 decision to reinstate Capital punishment is now in favor of reigniting the debate on the death penalty and striking it down.In a widely splintered 7-2 decision in Baze, et al. v. Rees, et al., No. 07-5439, justices wrote a series…

New federal chief judge for Southern District

A new chief judge has taken the leadership reins for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.On Jan. 1, U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton replaced Judge Larry J. McKinney as chief judge, meaning he’ll be expected to handle the court’s administrative matters and be a chief spokesperson for the court until 2015.During Judge McKinney’s seven-year term as chief of the nation’s third-busiest District Court, he’d led a court handling 23,000 civil and criminal cases, helped launch an…

Court: Michigan lawyer to stay away for 2 years

An embattled Michigan attorney is barred for two years from taking any new cases in Hoosier courts, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled today. Justices issued a per curiam opinion today in disciplinary action In the Matter of Geoffrey N. Fieger, No. 98S00-0609-DI-340, finding the attorney committed misconduct by making material misrepresentations in a sworn application for temporary admission to St. Joseph Circuit Court in late 2005. Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard and Justices Theodore Boehm and Robert Rucker agreed on the two-year…